Hide and go Sneak
by Les J Dalin
Summary: The Goblin lass, Snick, sneaks above ground while Sarah Williams runs the Labyrinth. Snick finds that there may be others in Sarah’s hometown who still believe in fairy tales.
1. Chapter 1 – Snick’s Favorite Game

_**All of the Labyrinth movie characters are property of the Henson Family. I'm just toying with them a bit… nicely, toying, I hope.**_

_**Some bits from "The Labyrinth: A Novel" by ACH Smith are included to help set the time frame of the story.**_

"_**As the World Falls Down" is David Bowie's.**_

_**Everything else is mine… especially Snick! **_

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**Chapter 1 – Snick's Favorite Game**

Her name was Snick. She was one of the many residents of the Goblin City, for she was a Goblin. Snick was like many Goblins. She was lanky with long slender limbs, a tiny, scrunched-up nose, and long brown hair that hung down to her waist in a strangled, knotted mess. While her height and long hair made her stand out from the hordes of other Goblins who lived in the City Before the Castle, her most noticeable features were not these; they were her bright yellow-green eyes which sparkled when she laughed, and her laugh, which started very slowly in the depths of her small chest and then rippled out of her like hundred tiny bells on a wave.

Like many Goblins, Snick was fond of laughter and games. She enjoyed playing "Pull the Tail on the Cat" and "Pluck the Cluck" and "Ring-Round-the-King." But her very favorite game of all was "Hide-and-go-Sneak."Snick was the reigning Hide-Sneak Champion. She had succeeded in playing the game more times than any other Goblin.

Now, "Hide-and-go-Sneak" was not a game like "Pluck the Cluck," which her King approved of, or even "Ring-Round-the-King," which he tolerated on good days or fumed over on bad days. No. "Hide-and-go-Sneak" was a game that could only be played on the days when the King was distracted – days when there was a visitor to the Labyrinth Beyond the Goblin City. Days like today.

Snick was in the hiding phase of "Hide-and-go-Sneak" as she watched the Goblin King stand next to the lone tree on the hill where all of the bad visitors to the Labyrinth started. The Goblin King sometimes called them "fools" or "idiots" or "spoiled brats," but Snick was certain at the moment that the Goblin King would have used the kinder term "runner" for this dark-haired girl. His stoic mask had slipped when the girl wasn't looking and his gaze was unusually kind for a few seconds.

As the Goblin King stepped between Snick and the girl, the mousy-haired Goblin crouched down, scrunching herself further into the shadows of the bushes. Snick held her breath as the Goblin King spoke.

"_**Turn back, Sarah. Turn back, before it is too late."**_

Snick willed the girl to go on and take the challenge. _Don't back out now, Sarah! _Snick saw the girl take a step forward and instantly liked her. _She has spunk. I could be Aboveground for hours!_

_**"I can't. Oh, I can't. Don't you understand that?" She shook her head slowly, gazing at the distant castle, and to herself, quietly, repeated, "I can't." **_

_**"What a pity." Jareth's voice was low, and gentle, as though he really meant it. **_

Snick held her breath. Hiding time was almost over. The sneaking was about to begin.

When Jareth, the Goblin King, finally made his transformation into an owl and flew away, Snick crept out of her hiding place and began to laugh. Her quiet, musical laughter hung in the air around the Goblin like arms outstretched offering a hug. Snick rolled on the ground and clutched her sides.

"I'm going to be Aboveground all day! Thank you, Sarah!"

And with that, Snick picked herself up and hopped through the hole at the roots of the lonely tree.

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_**This is my first story. I hope you are enjoying it so far.**_


	2. Chapter 2 – Aboveground at Last

**Chapter 2 – Aboveground at Last**

Aboveground was unfamiliar to Snick, but that was normal. She knew she was above ground because all of the smells were so strange compared to those of the Underground. Whenever Snick went through the portal in the tree roots, she would appear somewhere close to where the runner had come from. This time, she was in a garden, under a bush, next to some white stairs that lead to a small porch with white railings. _A bit bland_, Snick thought. _But nice. Oh! Look! Wind chimes!_

Snick glanced around and darted from the bush to the railing, then from the railing to a post, and up into the porch rafters near the chimes.

*Tink-tank-tunk!*

"These wind chimes sound wonderful… like unicorn hooves on stone!"

*Tunk-tink-tink, Tunk-tink-tink, Tank!*

Snick giggled as she played out a tune on the chimes.

Somewhere nearby, a dog barked.

*~*~*

Snick was feeling downhearted. It was raining and she was wet. There was nothing exciting to do. She'd left the bland house with the nice wind chimes a few hours ago and was out looking for someone to play tricks on. She'd left the neighborhood with the two-story houses behind some time ago. The streets here were lined with townhouses, but still not many people. Oh, she'd tormented a few dogs along the way, but the dogs were all chained up or locked inside so they couldn't give chase. The only excitement she'd had so far was when she woke up a squirrel and had him chase her for 3 blocks.

"I'm bored," Snick declared as she rounded a corner, not caring to hide her passage.

"Argh! Tonight has been so boring!" a voice carried on the wind.

Snick skittered into the shadows, her ears quivering beneath her long, mousey hair.

"I know, but at least we're getting paid to be bored," came a deeper voice.

"Chris, you always say that when the calls are slow."

"Yah, but it's true."

"I guess… I like the busy times though."

"You would, Greg."

Snick snuck closer as the conversation continued. She could see two figures now. They were standing in a pool of light streaming out into the darkness from a large window. There was a small neon sign with a few dim letters hung above a glass door. The sign said "COM--T-R HEL-D-SK." The "L" and "K" flickered.

Snick grinned. She had found somewhere to play!

*~*~*

Inside the office, there were a dozen-dozen spots for Snick to hide in and plot from. She'd been watching the Humans laze around the office while work was slow. The two men she'd spotted outside, Chris and Greg, were tossing an odd-shaped ball across the room. Chris was red-haired and built stout and broad, and he ran about the room tossing the ball from many spots and catching it easily. Greg was a tall, bald, dark-skinned man who stayed near his desk while playing with a casual grace. There were some women in the office, too. A blonde-haired woman in a yellow dress was reading a magazine. She'd set out some nail polish, which gave Snick a bunch of fun ideas. There were two dark-haired women on the other side of the room from the blonde lady – one with olive skin, the other with green eyes.

Snick was staring at the dark-haired lady with green eyes. _She looks like the runner! I wonder if they are sisters._

When the phones would ring, either the green-eyed lady or Greg would go to pick up the phone. So far, Greg had moved faster than the girl.

"That's enough of that, Mister Grrrreg! I want to know the green-eyed lady's name!" Snick muttered.

Quick as a blink, Snick scrambled from her shadowy hiding spot and darted across the open floor. No one saw her move, but Greg shifted his feet warily as she passed by him to crouch under his desk. The buzz of electronics hummed over her head. Wires hung down haphazardly.

Snick waited a moment and then began pulling cords under the desk. When she heard the whirling noise above come to a stop, she stifled a giggle and quickly shimmied to the adjacent desk.

The sneaking phase of the game had begun in earnest!

"Hey! My computer just powered down." Greg sighed and stopped playing. He began poking around at his computer.

"It's probably dead," said the blonde lady in a dead-pan voice.

"Not funny, Chrissy. You know that I just got this thing upgraded."

_They're distracted now. I can get another!_

Snick darted to the next desk and stole all of the pens from it. She grabbed pens from a few more desks as she raced to a dimly lit corner. In utter silence, she jumped onto the desk. Everyone was focused on Greg still. No one was watching the room, so she laid all of the pens out in a neat pattern, spelling out the word: Ello.

Snick giggled as she dashed into the next room.

"What was that?"

"Did you hear something?"

The dark-haired women asked each other at the same moment. Snick covered her mouth and hid in the far corner of the black room.

Snick could hear the dark-haired women moving around now. She could also see them moving closer to her.

_I shouldn't have said "Ello." They'll see it and they'll find me!_ Snick willed the women to be distracted. She closed her eyes and willed it fervently. _Go the other way. Look the other way. Don't see me. Don't find me._

"Would you look at that!?!" the deep voice of Greg filled the building. Snick inhaled sharply and opened her eyes. If the Humans found her, the Goblin King would punish her by tossing her into an oubliette for ages.

"Look at what?" asked a soft female voice.

"Look at all of these wires! They're all unplugged."

"How did you ever manage that?"

Snick decided to take advantage of their new distraction and make her escape. That was too close. She worked her way out of the shadows, under the desks, and along the walls.

"I didn't do it."

The blonde lady in the yellow dress chuckled. "Oh, then, it must have been some of Vicki's Gremlins then."

When the Gremlins were mentioned, Snick stopped and dared to sneak a glance at the two dark-haired women in the group of humans.

"Oh, no." The green-eyed lady smiled at Chris. "Gremlins would have actually killed the computer, like Chrissy suggested. " She winked at Greg. "This was probably the work of some Goblins. Harmless. Remember when they stole our coffee filters?"

Greg and the other dark-haired lady scoffed and cried out in unison, "I wouldn't call that harmless!"

They all laughed.

Snick began to panic. _SHE knows!_

Lightning crackled in the dark outside and the rain continued to pour.

"Let's plug it all back in, Greg, and see if it still works."

"Yah. Let's hurry before some Gremlins come and cut our power."

Vicki laughed again, "Yah. I'm surprised we still have power."

Snick panicked then and darted out the door into the rain. She ran down the street_. She knows. She knows._

Lightning flashed again. Snick felt very exposed.

When she finally got within sight of the house where she'd arrived Aboveground, Snick began to laugh. _She doesn't know. She can't. I made it!_

Laughing so hard that she was beginning to cry, Snick leapt into the hole which would return her to the Underground, where the Goblin City was waiting.

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	3. Chapter 3 – Snick’s Mission

**Chapter 3 – Snick's Mission **

"What --" called out the icy voice of the Goblin King, "have **you** been doing?"

Snick stopped her laughing with a frightened gasp.

"I… I…"

"You what?"

"I'm sorry, your majesty! I didn't mean to do it. I didn't know that she knew!" Snick's words rushed from her.

Jareth's frosty glare deepened into a cruel scowl. He was having enough trouble with the girl in the Labyrinth. He didn't need foolish Goblins running off causing more trouble.

"Tell me everything, or the only thing you will be apologizing to is the damp… cold… wall… of the oubliette!"

Snick quivered and then smiled a little. The oubliette's not so bad. I'll be alive at least. And with those thoughts, Snick told the story of how she'd harassed the people at the Comtr Heldsk.

Jareth's glower softened until the end of the story where the woman had rightly guessed that one of his Goblins was causing trouble.

"Flick --," he began.

"Um… I'm Snick, Sire!"

"Snick… listen very closely. I want you to return Aboveground. You will give the lady… Vicki… this." He spun his hands in the air and summoned a crystal into his palm.

Snick gasped. It was a great responsibility to carry a crystal.

"You will not drop it. You will not be seen." The Goblin King rolled the crystal from one hand to the other in a series of graceful waves. "You **will** place it where only she may find it. You will watch her take it. Then, you will return."

The lanky, mousey-haired Goblin nodded several times at her king's instructions. "Take the crystal. Don't drop. Don't be seen. Give it to Vicki, and come back. I got it Kingy!"

Jareth glared at Snick. "You aren't going to play this time, Snick. If you fail me, you will never play again."

Snick gulped and held out her hands, nodding once. "Yes, Sire!"

Jareth loomed over his subject before he handed the crystal to the outstretched hands.

Snick grasped it and held it closely to her chest. "Right to Vicki and back again," she said again as much to reassure herself as to confirm the instructions to her lord.

"Now!" Jareth growled.

With a gasp and the beginnings of a giggle, Snick hurled herself into the hole to the Aboveground.

*~*~*

Snick popped Aboveground inside a tiny broom closet only a few inches wide and gasped in horror, "Oubliette!" The tiny closet was dark, damp, and slightly dusty. It was the type of room where things are placed to forget about them. _It's a warning. _Snick clutched the crystal tightly. "I won't forget, Kingy!"

Opening the closet door revealed a small studio apartment. Snick took some time to study the layout. She had to find a spot where only the dark-haired, green-eyed lady who spoke of Gremlins and Goblins could find the crystal. There was not a lot of furniture. One corner held the kitchen and a small table with two narrow chairs. Another corner had a small computer desk. There was also a bed centered on the longest wall. In the middle of it all was a single reclining chair with a tall lamp positioned over it. There was a book on the chair.

Snick skipped over to the chair and picked up the book. She read the title aloud, "The Labyrinth, by A.C.H. Smith. Never heard of it." She shrugged and put the book back down where she'd found it. The crystal was placed next to it.

After having found the delivery spot for the crystal, Snick felt much better about her situation. She still had time to play Aboveground. "I can have some fun now!" Snick giggled as she ran to the front door of the apartment. Just as her hand touched the door handle to turn it, a voice drifted through the room and hung in the air, sending shivers down Snick's spine. "I wouldn't do that if I were you" was all it said.

"Or…" Snick gluped. "I… I could stay here… and wait…"

Like most Goblins, Snick hated waiting. It was boring. She skipped and tumbled and did cartwheels and ran around in circles until she was sure she'd go crazy. A few times, she tried for the door. But each time, the lightning would strike, and Snick would retreat to the chair with the book and watch. Then the running and tumbling would begin again.

Snick was so busy running in circles that she didn't hear the noise of keys turning in the lock of the front door. What she did hear was the creaking of the door opening. Luckily, she was near one of the hiding places she'd discovered while tumbling around the apartment. In a flash, Snick was just a shadow within a shadow; one with a view of the crystal on the chair.

" Hello?" The dark-haired, green-eyed lady from the Comtr Heldsk paused in the doorway. "Hmm… 'Ello?" she tried again. After another pause, she shook her head and sighed, entering her home. "I'm just jumping at shadows."

Snick held perfectly still in her chosen hiding place. "Hide-and-go-Sneak" was her favorite game to play, and she was very good at hiding. But she hadn't been paying attention when Vicki had arrived. _Even the best hiding spot can be found easily if someone sees you enter, _Snick chastised herself.

Vicki hummed as she fussed in the kitchen. She was boiling water and cleaning. The tune she hummed was sad and bright at the same time. Occasionally, a few words snuck slipped out. ""There's such a fooled heart, beating so fast… Makes no sense for you…Every thrill…Wasn't too much fun at all..." Snick listened intently and felt the music pull at her heart. Somehow, it reminded her of the Underground.

Still humming, Vicki set the tea cup on her small kitchen table and fetched the book from her reading chair without noticing the crystal.

The crystal began to roll.

"Makes no sense to fall…"

The crystal fell to the floor and rolled. A soft echoing tune came from the crystal as it spun closer to Vicki.

*Tink-clink-clink, Tink-clink-clink, zang!*

Vicki noticed the sound as she sung the line, "Makes no sense at all…"

The crystal bumped into her foot.

"Well, hello there. Where did you come from?" Vicki asked as she picked up the crystal. She walked over to the desk and gently placed it on the keyboard where it could not roll.

Vicki's back was to Snick as she walked over to the desk. _Sneaking time!_ Snick took the opportunity to dash to the broom closet.

As the broom closet closed behind Snick, she could hear the dark-haired woman puzzle over the crystal. "Wherever did you come from, precious thing? We'll have to take a good look around and find a nicer home for you."

*~*~*

Snick toppled over herself and rolled onto a hard, cold floor. She was back in the Underground.

The laughter of Goblins filled her ears for a brief moment, but it cut off with quick chortles as soon as they noticed that Goblin King had stopped smiling.

He was lounging on his throne. A baby in red and white striped pajamas stood, wobbling just inches from his knee. Snick stared at it a bit startled. Then she remembered there was a runner in the Labyrinth.

It was Snick's turn to smile, and she smiled broadly. She was bringing good news. The Goblin King would be happy!

Jareth didn't like it when a Goblin who was about to be punished smiled. "This had better be good news. Report," he commanded.

"Great news! Sire, she has your present. 'Precious thing,' she said when she saw it."

Jareth smiled. At least someone could appreciate his gifts today.

Snick giggled. She knew she wasn't going to be tossed into an oubliette today.

"Stop laughing," he ordered.

Snick gulped down her laugh.

"Your antics have been a distraction. Your punishment will be to clean all of the chicken coops in the Goblin City."

"Aw!" Snick sighed.

"Now!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

**Epilogue**

Snick laughed as she carried out her punishment. It was a pure, happy laugh that started very slowly in her belly and then rippled out of her with an almost musical chime.

There were dozens of cages that would need scrubbing, but for now, it was fun.

"Free! Free!" she giggled. "Free birdies! Run chickens!"

Snick danced as she moved from cage to cage, opening and upending each. Black-feathered chickens fell from their cages and ran. They ran off into the city.

Snick laughed as they ran. The Goblin King had not mentioned who would have to catch them later.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The End

Hope you've enjoyed it!


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